In the twelfth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the New Jersey Devils held on to first place, the New York Rangers slumped to last place, and a mushy middle got mushier. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
Before Christmas was a lot of season’s beatings within the division. After Christmas was a slew of contents. Now welcome to the end of 2024. The start of a new year is on Wednesday. The National Hockey League season is hitting an unofficial halfway point. No, no one is at 41 games just yet. But the calendar year change is still a notable marker in the season where teams need to start preparing for plans beyond the middle of April or start getting their acts together. Even if that means preparing for 2025-26 and beyond.
Traditionally, I put in the lottery and playoff odds in the snapshot after the All Star Weekend. Maybe this will move to after the Four Nations Faceoff in February. Either way, if you are a fan of the New Jersey Devils (of course, why wouldn’t you be?), Washington Capitals, or Carolina Hurricanes, then you are just about safe to think beyond Game #82 as of now. You will all battle to see who gets a wild card opponent and who gets to play each other in the first round. Everyone else in the division: you have work to do. The standings as of today show who they are and what that work looks like.
NHL.com
For the week coming up, the division has exactly one (1) game to play on the 30th of December (New York Rangers), New Year’s Day (Devils), and the 3rd of January (Pittsburgh Penguins). The other four days are loaded with games. Only three are within the division, which are highlighted and in bold as usual:
Schedules via NHL.com
Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.
New Jersey Devils
What Happened Last Week: The New Jersey Devils began their week with a Monday afternoon game against their hated rivals in the New York Rangers. What transpired was an absolute gift for the Devils fans: an absolute domination by the Devils over the Rangers. Jack Hughes opened the scoring early by ripping a shot past Jonathan Quick in the first period. The Rangers wanted fights and they lost those. They wanted offensive chances and the Devils constrained them to just 12 shots all game. Anytime a puck was loose in the defensive zone in front of Jacob Markstrom, it was dealt with by the Devils. The nastiness led to the Devils punishing the Rangers further. A too many men on the ice yielded a one-timer goal from Timo Meier for 2-0. Later in the second period, during a 4-on-3 (too many men during matching minors), Hughes struck again for 3-0. In the third period, Meier broke out a puck, dropped a pass to Nico Hischier, and he set up Stefan Noesen for a slam dunk of a tap-in for 4-0. During one of two offensive zone penalties by the Rangers, Dawson Mercer batted in a rebound in mid-air past Quick for 5-0. The Rangers had no answers for anything in any aspect of the game. New Jersey destroyed their hated rivals in as complete of a game as you will see this season.
On Friday, the Devils returned from their holiday break to host Carolina. It would be the first half of a home-and-home set with the Canes. They would make it count. Carolina would strike first. Jackson Blake took a shot that Jacob Markstrom stopped – except the puck trickled behind his leg. Eric Robinson swooped in to put home the loose puck. The Devils would tie it up about six minutes later. Jonathan Kovacevic took a long shot that Ondrej Palat tipped in. Less than a minute later, Luke Hughes sprung Stefan Noesen on a long pass for a 2-on-1. He sent a pass across to Nico Hischier, who finished the play for a 2-1 lead. All good until Dougie Hamilton took an interference penalty. While 15 seconds carried over into the second period, it was not long after that when Brent Burns hammered in a shot from the high slot to make it 2-2. But the Devils hit back. A Brett Pesce shot yielded a big rebound Luke Hughes to put in for 3-2. A bit over four minutes later, Jack Hughes took a shot that Pytor Kochetkov stopped. Dawson Mercer took the rebound and put it back in for a 4-2 score. All good until late in the second period. Hischier tucked in a puck and Stefan Noesen crashed the net. The puck ended up in the net – but the Devils fell victim to the Intent to Blow, so no goal. Fortunately, the Hurricanes could not solve Markstrom – who had a very good game. The Devils won 4-2 to win the week, pull further ahead of the Hurricanes, and secure first in the division for this snapshot prior to Saturday’s games.
The Devils replayed the Hurricanes on Saturday in Raleigh. This would be more of what Carolina likes to do: shoot a ton and apply a lot of pressure. Jake Allen was up to the task early on. He stopped them all. The Devils broke out in front when Paul Cotter broke ahead and finished a one-on-one shot with Dustin Tokarski. It was his first goal in over a month. Unfortunately, the Devils got pinned back by the end of the second period and it yielded a last-minute one-timer goal for Dmitry Orlov. The third period is where it all kicked off. Ondrej Palat put back a feed by Jesper Bratt to make it 2-1. Not long after, a blocked exit by Jack Roslovic led to Sebastian Aho getting a free shot and the shot hit off Allen and into the net for 2-2. Controversy struck when Timo Meier hit Martin Necas at center ice. It appeared their knees hit. The referees reviewed this and gave Meier a major penalty and a misconduct for kneeing. Necas never missed a shift and Meier never led with the knee. Alas. On the resulting power play (cut to 3 minutes due to a Jesperi Kotkaniemi rouging call), Jackson Blake tipped a Kotkaniemi shot to make it 3-2. Less than two minutes later, a breakdown in the defensive zone yielded Seth Jarvis hooking up Roslovic for a 2-on-1 goal to make it 4-2. The game got uglier. Erik Haula left his feet for a high hit on Orlov that drew blood but someone was not called a major. Orlov returned from the bench and jumped Haula while escorted by a ref. Somehow, this was just two minutes for each. Nevertheless, the Devils pulled Allen for an extra skater, Roslovic put in an empty netter, and the Devils lost 5-2. They lost their brief advantage over the Canes in the standings but still won the week and remain in first.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Devils are heading to California this week. They will spend the end of the year in Orange County as they visit Anaheim on New Year’s Eve. The Devils will then play on New Year’s Day in Los Angeles. The Devils have wins on both but they will not be easy to replicate. They can look for some revenge on Saturday when they go to San Jose. It will not be the end of the road trip but this week coming up will wrap up season series will all three California teams. There are worse places to be in at the end of the year.
Washington Capitals
What Happened Last Week: The Washington Capitals started this week by hosting Los Angeles. If you liked low-shooting hockey, then you liked this one as both teams combined for just 47 shots on net. There were some goals, of course. Aliaksei Protas put home a shot just past halfway through the first period to give the Caps the lead. Kevin Fiala would tie it up for the Kings in the second period, punishing a delay of game call on Trevor van Reimsdyk. Fiala took the same penalty later in the second period. Jakub Vrana punished that with a PPG to re-take the lead. Those were also the only penalties called in the game too. The close game effectively ended with an empty netter from Protas to give the Caps a 3-1 win. Close, tight, and a success for Washington.
On Monday, the Caps shipped up to Massachusetts to play Boston. The Capitals surely saw the Rangers’ performance and decided “We can beat that.” Washington laid an egg in this one. The first period featured three shots by the Caps, a late penalty by Martin Fehervary, and a late period PPG by Justin Brazeau. The Capitals managed to tie up the game in the second period among their four shots that period. Jakub Vrana put home a slapshot to punish a Brandon Carlo interference call. A nasty scene began the third. Oliver Wahlstrom boarded Fehervary and drew blood. He got a major and a misconduct from that. The Capitals did nothing with the five minute power play. After more nonsense, the Bruins decided to just take the game. Elias Lindholm scored with over six minutes left, Charlie Coyle scored a backhander with just over four minutes left, and Brad Marchand put in an empty net goal. The Capitals had four shots in the third for a grand total of 11. Yes, 11. A dismal 4-1 loss as one could have. Not the worst in the division for Tuesday, though. At least there was that.
Washington returned to work on Saturday by visiting a really good Toronto team. As did Alexander Ovechkin. The Caps have performed excellently without him. With him, would they beat on the Maple Leafs? Yes. While John Tavares struck first with a deflection goal, Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun made it a 2-1 game before 10 minutes into the first period. That was a response. In the second period, Bobby McMann tied up the game – only for Nic Dowd to make it 3-2 for the Caps just over 100 seconds later. The Leafs took just one penalty all game and in the third period. This was punished when Tom Wilson tipped in a Chychrun shot. Logan Thompson was awesome all game long and the insurance helped. The game was effectively over when the returning Ovechkin put in an empty net goal. Washington won 5-2 to win their week and stay right behind the Devils for first in the division.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Capitals will be busy in this week with four games to play. They will visit Detroit on this day. Then they return home for a New Year’s Eve game with Boston. The Capitals remain home and host a good Minnesota team on Thursday. Finally, the Capitals will host the Rangers on Saturday. Plenty for the Caps to do but given their form, they can and likely will keep racking up the results.
Carolina Hurricanes
What Happened Last Week: The Carolina Hurricanes visited Manhattan to play the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The start did not go well. Jimmy Vesey tipped in a Chad Ruhwedel shot 17 seconds into the game and Carolina was held to six shots on net. Then the Hurricanes talked it out, presumably adjusted, and then reminded the Rangers who they were. Carolina swarmed the Rangers to put 16 shots on net. William Carrier tied it up. About a minute after that, Alexis Lafreniere high-sticked Jack Roslovic and drew blood. As the four-minute power play was set to expire, Roslovic tipped in a Dmitry Orlov shot to make it 2-1. The Canes locked it down and Pytor Kochetkov made the stops to keep it at 2-1. Sebastian Aho put in an empty netter to make it a 3-1 win in New York. A very solid performance.
Carolina then got onboard to Tennessee to take on Nashville on Monday. They may have left their game behind, though. Nashville jumped out to a big lead and the Hurricanes could not catch up. The first period featured Steven Stamkos scoring and that was it. In the second period, Jonathan Marchessault made it 2-0. Just 22 seconds into the third period, Dmitry Orlov was caught holding Zachary L’Heureux’s stick. Eight seconds later, Ryan O’Reilly made it a 3-0 game. A little bit after that, Mark Jankowski put the Canes down four goals. Carolina would finally beat Juuse Saros a bit later. Jordan Staal scored and Sebastian Aho made it 4-2 on the next shift. Would this start a comeback? No. Saros stopped all other shots. The loss for Carolina was sealed when Marchessault put in an empty net goal. The Hurricanes lost 5-2 in Nashville going into Christmas. A surprise given what both teams have done this season.
After Boxing Day, the Hurricanes began a home-and-home with the New Jersey Devils. It was a huge opportunity for the Canes to close the gap with the Devils. It was an opportunity lost. The Hurricanes struck first. In the first period, Jackson Blake took a shot that Jacob Markstrom stopped. But the puck was never frozen and Eric Robinson swooped in to stash in the loose puck for a 1-0 lead. Alas, the Canes could not hold the lead. The Devils hit back later in the period with Ondrej Palat tipping in a Jonathan Kovacevic shot. Less than a minute later, Luke Hughes created a 2-on-1 chance that ended with Stefan Noesen setting up Nico Hischier to put Carolina down one. While they did get a power play to close out the first, the Hurricanes tied it up after that advantage ended. Brent Burns hammered in a shot from the high slot. Yet, the Canes could not beat Markstrom again – even with some strong chances. Worse, the Devils came back to re-take the lead. Luke Hughes piled in one rebound and, minutes later, Dawson Mercer piled in another one. Carolina was down two. They did get the gift of a jam play not being called a goal and a late second period power play. Only to do little with that and, again, not get anything past Markstrom. They fell to the Devils, 4-2, and so further back from them in the standings.
On Saturday, the rematch was in Raleigh to complete the home-and-home. There, they would get revenge. After a scoreless first period, the Devils put Carolina down when Paul Cotter took a puck and beat Dustin Tokarski one-on-one for the game’s first goal. The Canes put up the pressure and it yielded a goal late in the second. A long shift ended with Dmitry Orlov hammering in a one-timer from Sean Walker to make it 1-1. Early in the third, Ondrej Palat put home a feed by Jesper Bratt to make it 2-1. Carolina answered back within a minute when Jack Roslovic blocked an exit, Sebastian Aho took the puck, and fired a shot off Allen and into the net for 2-2. Then controversy struck. Timo Meier hit Martin Necas at center ice. Necas went down as their knees collided. This was reviewed and Meier was given a major and a misconduct. Necas did not miss a shift though. On the resulting power play, Jesperi Kotkaniemi took a shot and Jackson Blake tipped it for a 3-2 lead. Just about 90 seconds later, Roslovic finished a make-shift 2-on-1 with Seth Jarvis to make it 4-2. The Canes stayed strong in their own end and ended the game with an empty netter by Roslovic for a 5-2 final score. They split the home-and-home. They split their week. They are back to being 6 points behind the Devils.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Hurricanes will go on the road for two of their three games this week. Their final game of 2024 will be in Ohio. They will visit Columbus on New Year’s Eve. On the day after New Year’s Day, the Canes will visit Florida. That will be a fun game just for the match-up alone between two of the best teams in the East. Another quality matchup awaits the Canes on Saturday. Carolina will return home to host Minnesota, one of the West’s best teams. As ever, the goal for Carolina is to keep getting points to put pressure on the two teams ahead of them.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What Happened Last Week: The Pittsburgh Penguins started their week on Monday by hosting their hated rivals in the Philadelphia Flyers. They started off hot in the game and it alone was enough to win. Bryan Rust scored 89 seconds into the game for the Pens. While Egor Zamula tied it up minutes later, Pittsburgh hit their rivals with a flurry of goals. Rickard Rakell made it 2-1 past halfway through the first, Michael Bunting punished a Cam York penalty for 3-1, and then Philip Tomasino punished a Cam York penalty (yes, he took two straight penalties) for a 4-1 lead. The Pens did have to sweat a bit as the Flyers would make a comeback in the second period. Noah Cates and Sean Couturier would make it a one-shot game. Only for Bunting to pull the Pens ahead 5-3 with over a minute left in the second. The Flyers could not get much going for them. They pulled the goalie and Sidney Crosby put in the empty netter for 6-3. Late in the game, Matvei Michkov was called for hooking Ryan Graves. With 18 seconds left, the Pens put out Ryan Shea, Graves, Blake Lizotte, Matt Nieto, and Noel Acciari out for the power play. Hardly a proper unit. Lizotte scored in six seconds to convert it anyway. The Penguins routed their rivals, 7-3. A great result for the home fans as well as for Pittsburgh’s spot in the standings.
Pittsburgh had two games to play and the second one was on Saturday against the Islanders. This one got away from the Penguins for a bit. The first period featured Jean-Gabriel Pageau opening the scoring. It also featured Casey Cizikas interfering with Michael Bunting and Bunting himself scoring on the resulting power play to make it 1-1. The second period was rough for the first ten minutes. Anthony Duclair broke the tie. The Pens scored an own goal and it was credited to Anders Lee for 3-1. Then Cizikas tipped in a shot to make it 4-1 before the halfway mark. The Penguins would make a comeback bid. Noel Acciari poked in a puck to make it 4-2. With four seconds left in the second period, Rickard Rakell tipped in a Matt Grzelcyk shot to make it 4-3. If there is any team able to blow a one-goal lead in the third, it is the Islanders. But not this night. The Penguins were held to just four shots in the third. None went in. Cizikas would get one through with over five minutes left to put the Pens down two goals. They pulled the goalie and Lee scored a wraparound empty net goal for what would become a 6-3 final score. The Pens remain in fourth but they split the week and lost a chance to pull ahead from the pack.
What’s Coming Up This Week: That game in Long Island on Saturday was the first half of a home-and-home. The Penguins will host the Islanders today to complete the weekend. It will also be the last home game for the Pens in 2024. They will hit the road to play Detroit on New Year’s Eve and then Florida on Friday, the third of January. The Pens would benefit from winning the first two just to help themselves out in the division. Friday’s game will be tougher although the Pens will have a rest advantage. The Panthers play on Thursday. The Pens can still salvage their season.
Philadelphia Flyers
What Happened Last Week: The Philadelphia Flyers began their short week in Pittsburgh on Monday. A big rivalry game given the history between the two. One made bigger given the current standings. Unfortunately, the Flyers got stormed and could not catch up. Bryan Rust scored less than a minute and half into the game. Egor Zamula did tie it up minutes later, but the Flyers could not stop a flurry of goals late in the period. Rickard Rakell made it 2-1. Then Cam York took two straight penalties that were both punished, first by Michael Bunting and second by Philip Tomasino. The Flyers went down 4-1. They did show some actual fight back in the second period. Noah Cates scored relatively early in the second and Sean Couturier made it a one-shot game with less than seven minutes left in the period. Only for Bunting to strike again late in the period. Sam Ersson was out. Aleksei Kolosov was in the net for the third. There would be no more coming back, though. The Flyers did not generate too much on Tristan Jarry. An empty netter by Crosby sealed their fate. To add insult to the loss, Matvei Michkov took a hooking call with 18 seconds left and the Penguins converted the power play in six seconds by their fourth line. Specifically, Blake Lizotte. Losing to a rival hurts. Losing 7-3 to them hurts even more.
Philadelphia ended the week in Anaheim on Saturday. It was a scoreless first period and surely some concerns were mounting given the blowout loss earlier in the week. They were eased when Noah Cates scored early in the second period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. They returned when Troy Terry scored with over four minutes left in the second period. The 1-1 score held until the third period. Morgan Frost broke the tie with a backhander just before six minutes into the period. The tight game held at 2-1 until the Ducks pulled their goalie. The Flyers could relax when Joel Farabee put in an empty net goal. Philadelphia won in Orange County 3-1 to split their week and start their California part of the trip right. They end up in fifth place, right behind their rivals – and right ahead of Columbus and the Islanders.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Flyers are in California. They ended last week in Anaheim. They begin this week the very next day in Los Angeles. Their final game of 2024 will be in the Bay as they visit the San Jose Sharks. The road trip will continue after New Year’s Day when the Flyers visit Las Vegas on Thursday. These trips are not easy and in this case, it is four games in six nights.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What Happened Last Week: The Columbus Blue Jackets began their week by hosting Montreal. Ahead of the game, former Blue Jacket Patrik Laine revealed why he asked for a trade from Columbus: “I was tired of losing and just giving up.” Understandable but the Blue Jackets were not happy to learn that became public. It added some spice to this game. Columbus took it early on. Dmitri Voronkov scored over halfway through the first and Kent Johnson batted in a puck to make it 2-0 late in the period. In the second period, Laine was held out due to injury. The Canadiens would storm back without him, though. David Savard scored his first of the season to cut it to 2-1. Then Jordan Harris scored his first of the season shortly thereafter to make it 3-1 for Columbus. Montreal erased that lead in time. Lane Hutson made it 3-2 over seven minutes in and Jake Evans scored later in the period for a 3-3 score going into the third. In the third, Joel Armia put the Canadiens up 4-3 just 20 seconds into the final frame. Columbus needed a response. They got one after Cole Caufield was caught hooking Kirill Marchenko. Voronkov converted the power play to tie it up. The score held until there was three minutes left. Sean Monahan played in Marchenko and he ripped a shot off the frame and into the net. The Blue Jackets went up 5-4 and held on to prevail over Montreal. A great result given the opponent, the bulletin board comment, and the other results within the division on Monday.
After Boxing Day, the Blue Jackets held a home-and-home with Boston. The first game was on Friday in Columbus. This one started closely. Sean Monahan opened the scoring in the first period when he punished a Morgan Geekie penalty for a power play goal. Pavel Zacha tied it up late in the period to have it 1-1 going into the second. Columbus proceeded to unload on Joonas Korpisalo for four goals in the middle frame. Adam Fantilli broke the tie. Then Monahan scored over a minute later. After that goal, Charlie McAvoy slashed Zach Werenski. This led to a Dmitri Voronkov PPG. It was 4-1 within a three minute stretch in the period. Columbus made it 5-1 late in the second with a second Voronkov PPG that punished McAvoy’s second penalty of the period. It was effectively over. Further confirmed when Kirill Marchenko scored early in the third period for a 6-1 game. Charlie Coyle’s goal a minute later was just consolation. A big 6-2 rout for the Blue Jackets to win a week ahead of the rematch in Boston. It also meant moving on up in the standings.
The rematch in Boston on Saturday went badly. Columbus got beat on and struggled for all sixty minutes. They generated 18 shots in total. Jeremy Swayman, Boston’s goalie, stopped all 18 of them. Justin Brazeau’s backhander just 2:29 into the game would be enough to win it. But the B’s would not sit on one goal. Morgan Geekie made it 2-0 in the second period and David Pastrnak made it 3-0 less than two minutes after that. The third period featured a goal from Cole Koepke for a 4-0 score. That held as the Blue Jackets were shutout. Despite the disappointing loss, Columbus did win their week and moved up to sixth place. That is progress.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Blue Jackets will end 2024 on its final day by hosting a really good Carolina team. Good luck with that matchup. The competition will ramp down a bit later on in the week. On Thursday, the Blue Jackets will host a geographic rival in Detroit. An important game as stepping on them will help them in the wildcard picture. Columbus ends their week at home again to play St. Louis – a team that can hang but is not dominant. The Blue Jackets can spoil. But can they get consistent results? We shall see.
New York Islanders
What Happened Last Week: On Monday, the Islanders hosted a really bad and slumping Buffalo team. Would the Isles make it 14 straight winless games for the Sabres? No. Wait. No? The Islanders lost to the Sabres? Well, I am sure it was a close game or in overtime or…
…
Oh no.
Islanders. What is you doing, baby?
I have to write this? Fine. Here is the summary.
The Islanders came out and conceded a goal to Beck Malenstyn over two minutes into the game. Later in the first, Jiri Kulich scored to make it 2-0. In the second period, Jean-Gabriel Pageau hooked Kulich. It yielded a power play goal for Jason Zucker, who is a Sabre and so the Isles went down 3-0. Late in the second period, Zach Benson made it 4-0 and Jack Quinn added one for 5-0. The Islanders finally got on the board with 55 seconds left with a tip-in by Kyle Palmieri. I am sure the consolation goal was well received in Belmont. Yes, I remind you that this was a home game for the Islanders. Patrick Roy is Patrick Roy so in the third period, he decided to liven things up by pulling Ilya Sorokin for an extra skater with 10 minutes left. Tage Thompson scored an empty net goal with 9:53 left in the game. Jiri Kulich capped it all off with a goal with less than five minutes left. Kulich had a brace and an assist. Rasmus Dahlin had four assists. The Islanders were deservedly booed off the ice. The Islanders lost to a Sabres team that went winless in 13 games by a score of 7-1. Even I want to boo them after typing this all out. In a word: Pathetic.
The Islanders’ second game of the week was at home against Pittsburgh. Surely, it could not get worse. It did not. If anything, they flipped the script. The first period was even. Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring, but Michael Bunting punished a Casey Cizikas interference call on Bunting to make it 1-1. In the second period, the Isles jumped out in front. Anthony Duclair broke the tie. Anders Lee received the benefit of an own goal. And Cizikas tipped in an Alexander Romanov shot for a 4-1 lead – all before halfway through the second. Pittsburgh would get some hope though. Noel Acciari poked in a puck to make it 4-2. With four seconds left, Rickard Rakell tipped in a Matt Grzelcyk shot to make it 4-3. Yes, it was the return of the dreaded one-goal lead in the third period for the Islanders. Only the Isles did not blow it. No. They maintained it. And Cizikas would score with over five minutes left to give the Isles and their fans some relief at 5-3. Lee wrapped in an empty net goal to seal up a 6-3 win. The Isles responded to their brutal loss with a big win within the division. They also pulled ahead of the Rangers to finish this week in seventh place.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Islanders have three games to play and two opponents. First, they will visit Pittsburgh today. That is right, their final weekend of 2024 was a home-and-home with the Penguins. Still an important game within the division. The other opponent is Toronto and it is indeed another home-and-home. Only not in back-to-back days. The Islanders will go to Toronto on New Year’s Eve and then host the Maple Leafs on Thursday. Not an easy match-up for perhaps the most confusing team in the division, but the Isles recently beat them big time 6-3. They could take those games and continue to make the bottom end of the division real interesting.
New York Rangers
What Happened Last Week: The New York Rangers opened their week with a Sunday afternoon game against Carolina. It seemed like the Rangers were going to build on their win in Dallas. They kept the Canes to six shots in the first period. They scored 17 seconds into the game from a Jimmy Vesey tip-in of a Char Ruhwedel shot. Then the second period happened. Carolina brought the pressure with 16 shots in the middle frame alone. They also brought the goals. William Carrier tied up the game within a minute of the midpoint. Shortly after that, Alexis Lafreniere drew blood on a high-stick against Jack Roslovic. Just before the Rangers could kill the four-minute double minor, Roslovic tipped in a shot by Dmitry Orlov to punish the penalty and put the Rangers down a score. The Rangers showed some more life in the third period but could not solve Pytor Kochetkov. Sebastian Aho put in an empty net goal to secure a 3-1 loss for the Rangers. So much for building on the win in Dallas.
On Monday afternoon, the Rangers visited a fresher New Jersey Devils team. They filled their pants. Jack Hughes scored early in the first period as the Rangers managed to throw down almost as much (3) as they had shots in the period (5). They did not succeed much with either. Their bad discipline led to two punishments in the second period. Timo Meier scored a one-timer past Jonathan Quick for one PPG. Hughes converted a 4-on-3 after New York took a rock-stupid too many men on the ice in a 4-on-4 situation. Down 3-0 and the Rangers went out there in the third to take exactly three shots. They also conceded two more goals. A tic-tac-toe play finished by Stefan Noesen put them down four. An offensive zone penalty by Alexis Lafreniere (who demonstrated in this game that he learned from Jacob Trouba how to throw elbows) led to a Dawson Mercer PPG by batting a puck in. The Rangers were cooked from early on. They lost fights, hits, puck battles, special teams, and 5-on-5 and lost them decisively. They deserved every bit of the 5-0 blow out loss they suffered from their terrible performance.
The Rangers returned to action after Christmas in Tampa Bay on Saturday night. It opened with an early tripping penalty on Sam Carrick. This was punished by Nikita Kucherov. Artemi Panarin would tie up the game before halfway through the first. The Rangers even got a late period power play. Which went sideways as Ryan McDonagh scored his first of the season shorthanded to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. The game would get away from the Rangers in the second period. In less than five minutes apart, the Lightning scored three goals on seven shots to chase Igor Shesterkin. Specifically: Brayden Point at even strength, then Anthony Cirelli shorthanded, and then Jake Guentzel deflecting in a power play goal. The Rangers were cooked at 5-1. Vincent Trocheck would score a shorthanded goal early in the third period for consolation. It did not matter. Especially after Nick Paul scored later in the third. The Rangers lost 6-2. They were blown out in their second straight game. They lost all of their games in this past week. They fall to dead last in this division. It’s bad to be a Blueshirt right now.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Rangers will enter the new year with another tough run of three games. Their final game of 2024 is on Monday in Sunrise; where they will play the defending Stanley Cup champion and legitimate contenders, Florida. On Thursday, the Rangers will host a Boston team that is in their direct path of a wild card spot right now. On Saturday, the Rangers will visit the Capitals, who have proven to have the quality to lead this division. The struggle remains for the Manhattaners.
That was the twelfth Weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season. You read the post about what happened in the past week and what’s coming up going into the new year. Now it is your turn. Who will take first between the Devils and Capitals by next week’s snapshot? Can Pittsburgh stay ahead of the pack? Will Columbus or Philadelphia jump them? What do you even do at this point if you are the New York Rangers? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the eight teams in the week that was and the week ahead in the comments. Thank you for reading.